SMALL 
SCHOOL    LIBRARIES 


G.    M.    WAI/TON 

RIAN  OF  MICHIGAN  STATE   NORMAL   COLLEGE 


YPSILANTI,   MICHIGAN 

1904 


SMALL 
SCHOOL    LIBRARIES 


•  <* 

'M.  WAI/TON 


LIBRARIAN  OF  MICHIGAN   STATE  NORMAL   COLLEGE 


YPSILANTI,  MICHIGAN 
1904 


PRI  NTED      BY 


AU  GU  ST 19O4 


*£**L*H       - 


Introductory  Note 

THE  following  chapters  were  written 
for  the  Normal  College  News,  to 
give  information  to  old  students  who  have 
the  care  of  small  school  libraries.  Letters 
asking  for  help  are  received  almost  daily. 
The  size  of  the  libraries  is  usually  from 
two  hundred  to  one  thousand  volumes. 
The  specific  questions  asked  have  been 
classified  and  answered,  and  are  gathered 
into  this  little  pamphlet  which  may  some- 
times settle  difficulties,  and  may  often 
form  a  basis  for  further  questions  which 
will  be  gladly  answered,  as  in  the  past, 
through  personal  correspondence. 

The  smallest  school  must  have  a  library, 
and  these  very  elementary  and  practical 
suggestions  are  offered  in  the  hope  that 
they  may  be  of  service  to  the  teacher- 
librarian. 

G.    M.    WALTON 
August  1904 


353 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE: 

I — ACCESSIONS 1 

II— CATALOGUING 5 

III — CATALOGUING 13 

IV— CLASSIFICATION 21 

V — ADMINISTRATION 29 

VI— REFERENCE;  BOOKS 37 

VII— PUBLIC  DOCUMENTS       ....  45 


ACCESSIONS 


CHAPTER  I 
Accessions 

THERE  are  two  lists  of  books  that  are 
absolutely  indispensable  to  the 
smallest  library,  one  list  to  show  the 
number  of  books,  their  cost,  and  material 
value;  the  other  to  give  information  re- 
garding the  contents  and  use  of  the  books, 
their  authors,  titles  and  the  special  sub- 
jects treated.  The  latter  is  called  the 
Catalogue,  its  importance  b^ing  marked 
by  the  absence  of  any  qualifying  word .  The 
former  was  long  called  the  Numerical 
catalogue,  but  has  been  re-christened  the 
Accession  book.  It  is  a  record  of  each 
book  acquired  by  the  library  (of  each 
accession  to  the  library),  entered  in  con- 
secutive numerical  order,  with  the  author, 
title,  publisher,  place  of  publication,  cost 
and  other  details  necessary  to  a  history  of 
each  volume  on  the  shelves. 


ACCESSIONS 


The  accession  book  may  be  an  ordinary 
blank  book,  ruled  off  with  the  headings 
written  in  by  the  librarian,  or  a  book  made 
for  the  purpose  may  be  bought  of  the 
Library  Bureau,  Chicago.  The  smallest 
edition  is  made  for  1,000  volumes,  and 
costs  $1.00.  If  a  blank  book  is  used,  one 
8x10  inches  is  convenient,  and  the  double 
page  is  necessary  for  the  complete  entry. 
(See  opposite  page). 

Every  book,  pamphlet,  or  volume  of  a 
set  of  books,  is  given  an  accession  number 
and  occupies  one  line.  If  a  book  is  worn 
out,  lost,  or  withdrawn  the  fact  is  noted 
in  the  columns  for  remarks.  Gifts  are  en- 
tered as  other  books  except  the  word 
"gift"  is  written  in  the  cost  column. 
Bound  periodicals  are  entered  as  other 
books,  but  cost  of  subscriptions,  and  of 
binding  are  kept  elsewhere,  in  separate 
note  books. 


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4  ACCESSIONS 

Each  book  should  be  marked  with  the 
name  of  the  Library,  on  the  inside  of  the 
front  cover,  either  with  a  printed  label,  or 
a  rubber  stamp,  in  either  case  a  blank 
being  left,  that  the  accession  number 
may  be  added.  E.  g. : 

RICHMOND,    MICHIGAN 

PUBLIC    SCHOOL    LIBRARY 

NO 

The  accession  book  is  of  specific  value. 
It  is  the  business  ledger.  In  case  of  fire 
it  is  the  basis  of  estimating  losses,  and 
securing  insurance.  It  is  the  catalogue 
which  answers  many  purposes,  among 
them  that  of  taking  account  of  stock  It 
is  the  most  important  record  book  of  the 
library. 


CATALOGUING  5 

CHAPTER  II 
Cataloguing 

THE  catalogue  of  a  library  is  very 
like  the  index  of  a  book,  and  the 
statement  may  be  strengthened  by  adding 
that  a  library  without  a  catalogue  is 
deprived  of  its  usefulness  even  more  than 
a  book  without  an  index. 

All  questions  which  must  be  answered 
in  a  library  fall  under  three  heads:  —  (1.) 
Have  you  a  book  by  a  certain  author? 
(2.)  Have  you  a  particular  book? 
(3.)  What  have  you  on  some  specific 
subject?  The  first  requires  that  all  books 
be  catalogued  by  authors.  The  second 
necessitates  writing  titles  of  books.  The 
third  demands  the  careful  examination  of 
the  books,  that  each  may  be  entered 
under  the  general  subject  class  to  which 
it  belongs,  and  still  further  that  the 
volume  be  analyzed  and  special  chapters 


6  SMAU,  SCHOOIv  LIBRARIES 

noted,  to  which  neither  the  title  nor  the 
general  subject  of  the  book  would  give 
any  clue.  Take  for  example  Wilson's 
Division  and  reunion.  Our  first  question 
would  be  answered  by  a  card  written  for 
the  author;  our  second  by  one  for  the 
title,  but  the  third  would  not  be  covered 
by  one  under  the  subject  of  U.  S.  His- 
tory, and  an  examination  of  the  chapters 
would  at  once  furnish  headings  for  such 
subjects  treated,  as  Slavery,  Banks,  Se- 
cession, Reconstruction,  etc. 

There  are  two  forms  of  catalogue — the 
printed  catalogue  and  the  card  catalogue. 
The  former  is  the  most  expensive  and  the 
least  useful.  A  printed  catalogue  is 
always  out  of  date,  and  the  books  which 
it  does  not  catalogue  are  always  the 
newest,  and  often  the  best  on  a  given  sub- 
ject, in  the  library.  Take  a  library  of  five 
hundred  volumes,  prepare  a  printed  cata- 
logue, and  $5.00  would  be  a  very  conser- 


CATALOGUING  7 

vative  estimate  for  the  printer's  bill.  The 
following  year  perhaps  fifty  volumes  will 
be  added  to  the  library,  a  printed  supple- 
ment would  cost  at  least  a  dollar,  and 
the  catalogue  would  not  be  in  alphabetical 
or  classified  order.  Each  year  will  add  to 
the  expense  and  to  the  inconvenience.  A 
card  catalogue,  on  the  other  hand,  has  the 
twofold  advantage  of  economy  of  expense, 
and  of  always  being  up  to  date  in  one 
alphabet.  A  card  catalogue  case,  which 
will  hold  2000,  4000,  or  6000  cards  can 
be  bought  (of  the  Library  Bureau,  Chi- 
cago) for  $5.00,  $8.00  and  $12.00 
respectively,  and  cataloguing  cards  cost 
$2.25  per  thousand. 

The  one  absolutely  essential  detail  in 
the  mechanical  part  of  the  catalogue,  is 
the  use  of  the  standard  sized  card.  This 
is  made  in  various  qualities  and  by 
several  library  supply  houses,  but  the 
card  made  by  the  Library  Bureau,  Chi- 


8  SMAU,   SCHOOL   LIBRARIES 

cago,  at  $2.50  per  thousand,  is  perfectly 
satisfactory.  If  it  is  inexpedient  to  pur- 
chase a  catalogue  case  at  once,  the  box 
in  which  the  cards  are  shipped  may  serve 
the  purpose  temporarily — the  standard 
size  insuring  their  fitting  into  the  better 
case,  which  may  be  provided  later. 

Before  a  book  is  ready  to  catalogue  it 
should  have  been  accessioned,  and  the 
accession  number  (or  individual  num- 
ber of  the  book)  entered  in  the  book, 
and  also  the  name  of  the  library  en- 
tered in  the  book.  A  book  should  be 
catalogued  from  the  title  page,  which  often 
differs  from  the  title  printed  on  the  back. 
The  author  card  should  be  written  first, 
and  should  contain  the  author's  name,  the 
title  of  the  book,  and  at  the  lower  part  of 
the  card  the  accession  number.  If  the 
book  has  illustrations  the  abbreviation 
lllus.  should  be  added,  and  if  there  are 


CATALOGUING 


more  volumes  than  one  the  fact  should  be 
noted — E.  g.  3  vol. 

Take      for    example      Fiske's     Critical 
period:  — 


Pis 

ke,  John 

Critical  period  of  American 

hist 

ory,  1783-1789 

208 

Author  card  (reduced;  actual  size,  7^x12%  cm.) 

This  card  answers  our  first  question, 
have  you  <(a  book  by  a  certain  author?" 
moreover  when  it  is  put  into  the  catologue, 
if  there  are  other  books  in  the  library  by 
John  Fiske,  they  will  all  be  together  in 
the  catalogue. 

The  next  card  to  write,  which  would 
answer  the  second  question: — "Have  you 
a  particular  book?  M — is  the  title  card.  Here 
the  order  is  reversed,  Critical  period,  etc., 


10  SMAU,   SCHOOL,   UBRARIES 

appearing  on  the  top  line,  and  author's 
name  (inverted  as  before)  on  the  second 
line. 

Our  last  question  remains: — "What 
have  you  on  a  specific  subject?"  Of  what 
then  does  this  volume  treat  as  a  whole, 
and  of  what  specific  subjects?  The 
main  subject  would  be  U.  S.  History, 
(written  on  the  top  line  of  the  card,)  the 
author's  name  following.  Looking  through 
the  table  of  contents  we  find  many  chap- 
ters, among  them,  one  on  the  Federal  con- 
vention. For  this  we  write  our  subject: 
Federal  convention — on  the  top  line,  the 
author's  name  follows  in  the  same  place, 
on  the  second  line,  and  then  the  name  of 
the  book, — see  his  Critical  period  of  U. 
S.  History,  p.  230-305. 

Let  me  cite  one  more  book,  and  I  have 
chosen  books  that  should  be  in  all  Public 
school  libraries — Jane  Austin's  Standish 
of  Standish:  a  story  of  the  Pilgrims.  This 


CATALOGUING  11 

is  a  historical  novel,  and  the  author 
card  would  be  written  as  the  Fiske 
card,  but  this  book  should  be  made  avail- 
able also  under  U.  S. — History — Colonial, 
and  under  Pilgrims  for  subject  headings. 
Now  let  us  arrange  our  cards.  Supposing 
we  have  catalogued  all  the  books  men- 
tioned, we  will  have  in  our  author  cards 
as  follows:  — 

Austin,  Jane.  Standish  of  Standish;  A  story  of  the 
Pilgrims. 

Fiske,  John.  Critical  Period  of  American  history — 
1783-1789. 

Hart,  A.  B.  American  History  as  told  by  contem- 
poraries. 4  vol. 

Wilson,  Woodrow.     Division  and  reunion.     Maps. 

If  a  student  comes  to  look  up  a  topic  in 

U.  S   History,  under  that  subject  he  will 

find:  — 

U.  S. — History.  Fiske,  John.    Critical,  period,  etc. 

U.S. — History.     Hart,  A.  B.     American  history,  etc. 

U.  S. — History.  Wilson,  Woodrow.  Division  and 
reunion. 

U.  S.— History.  Colonial.  Austin.  Jane.  Stand- 
ish of  Standish,  etc. 


12  SMAI,!,   SCHOOL   LIBRARIES 

If  he  wants  something  specially  on  the 
Federal  convention  he  will  find  an  admir- 
able reference,  and  the  same  in  looking  for 
Slavery,  Banks,  Pilgrims,  etc. 

There  is  no  work  in  which  it  is  truer 
that  one  must  learn  in  the  doing  than 
cataloguing.  The  two  points  to  be  em- 
phasized are:  First — Be  careful  and  con- 
sistent in  deciding  on  subject  headings, 
and  second,  try  to  catalogue  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  class  of  students,  as  a 
whole,  who  will  use  the  catalogue — for  in- 
stance, do  not  let  the  general  head  U.  S. 
History  cover  specific  subjects.  If  t(a 
spade  is  a  spade, M  use  Spade  for  subject 
heading,  and  not  Farming  implement. 


CATALOGUING  13 

CHAPTER  III 
Cataloguing 

THE  cataloguing  of  books  in  a  library 
implies  systematizing  their  contents 
and  thus,  bringing  together  in  the  cata- 
logue ,books  and  chapters  of  books,  which 
treat  of  the  same  subject.  In  other  words, 
it  classifies  the  material  at  our  disposal, 
and  makes  available  the  resources  of  many 
hundred  or  many  thousand  books,  as  an 
index  serves  to  make  available  the  contents 
of  one  book  or  one  set  of  books. 

When  cataloguing  a  book, look  carefully 
at  the  title  page,  and  put  so  much  on  the 
card  as  may  be  necessary  to  define  the 
scope  of  the  book.  Often  the  sub-title  is 
absolutely  essential.  For  E.  g. :  MacDon- 
ald's  Select  documents,  needs  the  qualifi- 
cation of  its  sub-title — Illustrative  of  the 
history  of  the  United  States  1776-1861. 
If  catalogued  under  the  subject-heading, 


14  SMAIvI,   SCHOOL   UBRARIKS 

U.S.  Original  documents,  we  would  know 
from  this  sub-title,  that  we  would  find  in  it 
neither  the  Colonial  charters,  nor  the  last 
Treaty  with  Spain.  Next  a  careful  ex- 
amination of  the  preface,  and  table  of 
contents  is  necessary,  to  decide  just  what 
material  in  the  book  will  be  of  absolute 
service  and  under  what  head  or  title  it  will 
probably  be  called  for.  Shall  we  write  a 
specific  card  for  the  Articles  of  Confedera- 
tion, and  for  the  Ordinance  of  1787, or  shall 
we  trust  to  their  being  found  under  U.  S. 
Original  documents.  In  many  cases,  in 
the  school,  there  is  a  certain  periodicity 
about  the  references.  Each  semester  cer- 
tain references  are  wanted,  and  it  is  well 
to  note  these,  and  enrich  the  catalogue 
from  all  good  sources. 

Decide  on  subject  headings  with  ex- 
treme care  that  they  be  clear,  explicit 
and  exact.  If  several  entries  have  been 


CATALOGUING  15 

made  under  U.  S. — History-Colonies,  do 
not  forget  and  make  an  entry  under  some 
new  form,  as  U.  S. — Colonies.  If  the 
word  Bank  has  been  decided  on,  do  not 
enter  a  book  under  National  banks,  but 
rather  write  a  card,  National  banks  see 
Banks,  and  keep  the  several  references 
on  banking  together.  If  uncertain  about 
a  heading  consult  your  catalogue  to 
see  if  you  have  already  decided  on  one. 
It  is  well  to  leave  the  cards  in  the 
books  catalogued  on  one  day,  to  be  read 
and  verified  the  next  day.  If  a  book  is 
uncut,  write  the  word  cut  on  a  slip  of 
paper  and  place  it  in  the  book,  that  it 
may  not  reach  the  shelf  uncut.  Having 
carefully  re-read  the  cards,  divide  them 
into  two  lots,  one  the  author  cards,  the 
other  the  title  and  subject  cards.  The 
word  author  card  is  used  technically  to 
stand  for  main  card,  that  is,  the  card 


16  SMAI,!,   SCHOOL 

which  contains  certain  specific  information 
usually  of  importance  chiefly  to  the  cata- 
loguer, for  example:  the  accession 
number,  or  a  note  to  state  that  one  vol- 
ume out  of  a  set  is  lost,  or  that  two  vol- 
umes only  of  a  set  are  as  yet  published, 
etc.,  etc. 

Periodicals,  cyclopedias,  atlases,  year 
books  of  schools  and  certain  reference 
books  which  are  known  almost  exclusive- 
ly by  title  are  catalogued  with  the  titles 
for  the  main  card,  arid  a  regular  title 
card  is  also  written  to  go  with  the  titles 
and  subjects.  For  example,  The  Edu- 
cational review,  Universal  cyclopedia, 
Rand,  McNally's  atlas,  Century 
dictionary  of  names,  and  the  States- 
man's year  book — the  five  most  essen- 
tial reference  books  after  Webster's  Inter- 
national dictionary — each  should  have  as 
a  main  or  author  card,  the  title  of  the 


CATALOGUING 


17 


work,  with  the  name  of  the  editor  entered 
on  it,  if  necessary,  and  also  a  title  card, 
that  it  may  be  found  in  whichever  place 
it  is  looked  for.  Further,  these  main- 
title  cards  are  treated  alphabetically  as 
proper  names.  The  main  card  for  a  peri- 
odical would  be  written  as  follows: 


Edu 

cational  Review 

1900-date 

vol  20-date 

ed.  by  Butler,   Nicholas 

Mur- 

ray 

over 

The  card  shows  exactly  what  years  and 
what  volumes  are  in  the  library.  The 
word  date  signifying — to  the  present  time. 

In  the  case  of  a  periodical,  or  of  any 
work  which  is  published  at  intervals  (gen- 
erally called,  Continuations,)  it  is  well  to 
write  the  word  over  at  the  bottom  of  the 


18  SMAI,!,  SCHOOL   UBRARIES 

card,  and  put  the   accession   numbers    on 
the  back,  opposite  the  vol.     E.  g. : 

Vol.  10.   247. 

Vol.  11.   293. 

Vol.  12.  344. 

The  same  rule  would  apply  to  such 
books  as  the  Normal  College  Year  book, 
The  School  laws  of  Michigan,  Report  of 
the  Supt.  of  Public  instruction,  Report  of 
the  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education. 
The  cards  would  be  written  and  alpha- 
betted  as  follows  with  the  author  cards 
already  in  the  catalogue.  The  word  date 
is  also  entered  on  these  cards,  and  care 
should  be  taken  that  they  are  kept  up  to 
date. 
Austin,  Jane.  Standish  of  Standish;  A  story  of  the 

Pilgrims. 

Century  dictionary  of  names. 
Educational  review.     1900 — date.      Etc. 
Fiske,  John.     Critical    period  of  American  history. 
1783-1789. 


CATALOGUING  19 

Hart.  A.  B.  American  history  as  told  by  contem- 
poraries. 4  vol. 

MacDonald,  William.  Select  documents  illustrative 
of  the  history  of  the  United  States.  1776-1861. 

Michigan — Public  instruction,  Report  of  the  Super- 
intendent. 1897— date. 

Michigan — State  Normal  College,  Year  books.  1895 
—  date.  9  vol. 

Rand,  McNally  &  Co.     Indexed  atlas  of  the  world. 

Statesman's  Year  book.     1900— date.     4  vol. 

U.  S. — Education,  Bureau  of.  Report  of  Commis- 
sioner of  Education.  1892 — date. 

Universal  Cyclopedia.     12  vol. 

Wilson,  Woodrow.     Division  and  reunion.     Maps. 

In  the  same  way  the  duplicate  title  card 
for  each  would  be  alph abetted  into  the 
catalogue  of  titles  and  subjects.  When  a 
new  volume  of  a  periodical  is  bound,  or  a 
new  year  book  or  other  continuation 
received,  it  is  accessioned,  and  the 
number  of  the  volume  and  the  accession 
number  is  added  to  the  card  already 
written. 

Do  not  attempt  to  make  a  catalogue 
without  some  books  on  library  methods. 
For  any  one  who  has  had  little  or  no  ex- 


20  SMAU,   SCHOOIy   UBRARIES 

perience,  the  simpler  and  briefer  these 
helps  the  better.  The  best  book  I  know 
is  Hints  to  Small  libraries,  by  Miss 
Plumtner,  librarian  of  Pratt  Institute, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and  most  easily  obtain- 
ed direct  from  the  author,  price  50c. 

The  best  help  one  can  have  is  to  visit 
other  libraries  and  study  their  catalogues, 
and  ask  questions  of  the  librarians.  Keep 
a  list  of  questions  and  be  ready  to  seize 
any  opportunity  which  offers  to  have 
them  answered. 


CLASSIFICATION  21 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Classification 

THE  subject  of  classification  falls  into 
two  divisions:  (1.)  The  books  and 
their  contents  for  the  purpose  of  catalog- 
uing; (2.)  The  arrangement  of  books  on 
the  same  subject  into  groups,  for  conve- 
nient placing  on  the  shelves. 

The  former  has  already  been  considered. 
Regarding  the  latter,  books  in  all  libraries 
large  or  small,  public  or  private,  naturally 
fall  into  much  the  same  arrangement,  but 
in  a  large  library,  or  a  public  library,  it 
becomes  necessary  that  each  book  shall 
have  some  distinctive  mark  that  it  may 
easily  be  replaced  on  the  shelves.  We 
place  together  general  reference  books, 
books  on  science,  and  histories,  and  lit- 
erature, etc.,  etc. 

Many  systems  have  been  devised  for  ar- 
ranging and  marking  books  in  a  logical 


22  SMAI,!,  SCHOOL  LIBRARIES 

and  scientific  manner.  The  one  most  in 
use  and  most  simple  in  its  application  is 
the  Dewey  Decimal  classification. 

This  classification  groups  all  knowledge 
into  ten  classes: — General  Works,  Phil- 
osophy, Religion,  Sociology,  Philology, 
Natural  Science,  Useful  Arts,  Fine  Arts, 
Literature,  History.  Each  of  these  classes 
is  subdivided  into  ten,  as  the  Natural 
sciences.  —  Mathematics,  Astronomy, 
Physics,  Chemistry,  Geology,  Paleontol- 
ogy, Biology,  Botany,  Zoology.  These 
again  are  subdivided,  as  Mathematics 
into  Arithmetic,  Algebra,  Geometry,  etc. 
Of  course  in  a  very  large  library  the  sub- 
division goes  on  indefinitely.  In  a  small 
school  library  many  of  the  numbers  would 
not  be  used  in  the  table  of  one  hundred 
Headings .  Before  beginning  to  classify  the 
books,  decide  under  which  headings  the 
library  has  enough  books  to  make  a  group, 
and  underscore  these  numbers  in  the 
table. 


CLASSIFICATION  23 

DIVISIONS 

000    General  Works. 

010  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

020  LIBRARY  ECONOMY. 

030  GENERAL,  CYCLOPEDIAS, 

040  GENERAL  COLLECTIONS. 

050  GENERAL  PERIODICALS. 

060  GENERAL  SOCIETIES. 

070  NEWSPAPERS. 

080  SPECIAL  LIBRARIES.    POLYGRAPHY. 

090  BOOK  RARITIES. 

100    Philosophy. 

110  METAPHYSICS. 

120  SPECIAL  METAPHYSICAL  TOPICS. 

130  MIND  AND  BODY. 

140  PHILOSOPHICAL  SYSTEMS. 

150  MENTAL  FACULTIES.    PSYCHOLOGY. 

160  LOGIC. 

170  ETHICS. 

180  ANCIENT  PHILOSOPHERS. 

190  MODERN  PHILOSOPHERS, 

200    Religion. 

210  NATURAL  THEOLOGY. 

220  BIBLE. 

230  DOCTRINAL  THEOL.    DOGMATICS. 

240  DEVOTIONAL  AND  PRACTICAL. 

250  HOMILETIC.    PASTORAL.    PAROCHIAL. 

260  CHURCH.    INSTITUTIONS.    WORK. 

270  RELIGIOUS  HISTORY. 

280  CHRISTIAN  CHURCHES  AND  SECTS. 

290  NON-CHRISTIAN  RELIGIONS. 


24  SMALL   SCHOOL  LIBRARIES 


300    Sociology. 


310 

STATISTICS. 

320 

POLITICAL  SCIENCE, 

330 

POLITICAL  ECONOMY. 

340 

LAW. 

350 

ADMINISTRATION. 

360 

ASSOCIATIONS  AND  INSTITUTIONS. 

370 

EDUCATION. 

380 

COMMERCE  AND  COMMUNICATION. 

390 

CUSTOMS.    COSTUMES.    FOLK-LORE, 

400 

Philology. 

410 

COMPARATIVE  . 

420 

ENGLISH. 

430 

GERMAN. 

440 

FRENCH. 

450 

ITALIAN. 

460 

SPANISH. 

470 

LATIN. 

480 

GREEK. 

490 

MINOR  LANGUAGES. 

500 

Natural  Science. 

510 

MATHEMATICS. 

520 

ASTRONOMY. 

530 

PHYSICS. 

540 

CHEMISTRY. 

550 

GEOLOGY. 

560 

PALEONTOLOG  v  . 

570 

BIOLOGY. 

580 

BOTANY. 

590 

ZOOLOGY. 

CLASSIFICATION  25 


600    Useful  Arts. 


610 

MEDICINE. 

620 

ENGINEERING. 

630 

AGRICULTURE. 

640 

DOMESTIC  ECONOMY. 

650 

COMMUNICATION  AND  COMMERCE. 

660 

CHEMICAL  TECHNOLOGY. 

670 

MANUFACTURES. 

680 

MECHANIC  TRADES. 

690 

BUILDING. 

700 

Fine  Arts. 

710 

LANDSCAPE  GARDENING. 

720 

ARCHITECTURE. 

730 

SCULPTURE. 

740 

DRAWING,  DESIGN,  DECORATION. 

750 

PAINTING. 

760 

ENGRAVING. 

770 

PHOTOGRAPHY. 

780 

Music, 

790 

AMUSEMENTS. 

800 

Literature. 

810 

AMERICAN. 

820 

ENGLISH. 

830 

GERMAN. 

840 

FRENCH. 

850 

ITALIAN. 

860 

SPANISH. 

870 

LATIN. 

880 

GREEK. 

890 

MINOR  LANGUAGES. 

26  SMAI,!,  SCHOOL,  LIBRARIES 


GEOGRAPHY  AND  DESCRIPTION. 

BIOGRAPHY. 

ANCIENT  HISTORY. 

EUROPE. 

ASIA. 

AFRICA. 

NORTH  AMERICA. 

SOUTH  AMERICA. 

OCEANICA  AND  POLAR  REGIONS.  * 

Taking  some  of  the  books  we  have 
already  mentioned  in  the  chapters  on 
cataloguing,  we  would  place  Austin's, 
Standish  of  Standish,  with  American 
literature ;  the  Century  dictionary  of  names, 
with  the  General  cyclopedias ;  Educational 
review,  with  works  on  Education;  and 
Fiske's  Critical  period,  with  N.  Ameri- 
can history.  Having  found  from  the 
table  the  number  of  the  group,  mark  it  in 
the  book  on  the  inside  of  the  cover  under 
the  stamp  which  has  the  accession  number, 
and  place  it  also  in  the  upper  left  hand 
corner  of  each  card  that  is  written  for  the 


*Reprinted  from  the  DECIMAL  CLASSIFICATION  by  permission 
of  the  publishers,  library  Bureau,  Boston.— A  forty-page 
pamphlet  with  explanation  and  detail,  will  be  sent  free  to  any 
applicant. 


CLASSIFICATION  27 

book.  It  is  generally  more  convenient 
to  assign  the  class  No.  before  cataloguing 
the  book,  as  then  the  number  is  ready  to 
be  added  at  once  to  the  cards. 

The  books  are  now  divided  into  groups — 
and  each  group  has  its  distinctive  mark, 
or  number.  The  next  process  is  to  place 
the  books  on  the  shelves — First  come  the 
General  reference  books,  followed  by 
those  on  Philosophy,  where  probably  all 
will  be  included  in  the  No.  150  Psychol- 
ogy. Under  Religion  there  will  perhaps 
be  the  two  divisions  220  Bible,  including 
any  works  relating  to  the  bible,  as  a  con- 
cordance, a  life  of  Christ,  or  a  book  of 
bible  stories ;  and  290  Non-Christian  relig- 
ions, where  the  Greek  and  Roman  myth- 
ology would  be  placed. 

The  general  groups  being  together,  the 
books  must  be  placed  on  the  shelves  in 
some  regular  order,  and  this  means 
arranging  them  alphabetically  by  the 
author.  To  this  rule  there  is  one  exception, 
A  biography  is  alph  abetted  by  the  name 
of  the  person  whose  life  is  written ,  as  this 
allows  two  or  more  lives  of  the  same 


28  SMAI,!,   SCHOOL 

person  to  stand  side  by  side,  and  also  in 
many  cases  by  the  side  of  the  works  of 
which  he  is  the  author,  as  in  English 
literature  the  lives  of  Addison  would 
stand  next  to  the  Spectator. 

All  individual  biography  is  more  useful 
in  a  reference  library  (and  all  school 
libraries  are  such)  if  placed  in  its  own 
group.  Lives  of  American  statesmen 
should  go  into  American  history. 

There  should  be  no  fiction  in  a  school 
library  that  is  not  worthy  to  be  classed 
Literature.  There  are  plenty  of  good 
stirring  stories  for  the  boys  and  girls,  by 
such  authors  as  Alcott,  Bouvet,  Jewett, 
Stockton,  Scott,  Mark  Twain,  Stevenson, 
and  Mulock,  nor  shall  we  bar  out  Capt. 
King,  Henty  and  Otis — and  good 
books  for  pure  enjoyment  should  make 
a  fair  percentage  of  school  library  books. 

This  system  of  classification  has  the 
peculiar  advantage  of  expansion  through 
placing  new  books  in  each  group  in  their 
alphabetical  order,  on  the  shelves,  in  the 
same  manner  that  new  cards  are  inserted 
in  the  catalogue. 


LIBRARY     ADMINISTRATION  29 


CHAPTER  V. 
Administration 

UNDER  the  heading  Administration 
will  fall  such  details  as,  regulations 
for  drawing  and  charging  books;  use  and 
care  of  periodicals ;  selecting  and  ordering 
books;  and  library  tools,  both  mechanical 
and  literary.  In  some  of  the  smaller 
schools  the  teacher  best  adapted  for  the 
work  is  appointed  librarian  and  given  time 
from  regular  work,  or  given  extra  pay  for 
extra  work.  It  is  also  expedient  to  select 
one  or  two  of  the  senior  class  who  are 
usually  glad  to  give  their  time  for  the  bene- 
fit and  the  honor  of  having  charge  of  the 
library  during  their  free  class  periods. 
Too  often  the  entire  work  falls  on  the 
superintendent. 

The  smaller  the  library  the  greater  the 
necessity  for  allowing  all  kinds  of  books 


30  SMAU,  SCHOOL  LIBRARIES 

to  be  taken  from  the  room,  and  also  the 
more  urgent  the  requirement  that  they  be 
taken  at  such  time  only  as  will  not  inter- 
fere with  their  use  as  needed  in  the  room, 
and  that  they  be  returned  with  absolute 
promptness  at  the  time  stated.  No  book 
should  be  taken  from  the  library,  even  for 
a  few  minutes,  by  either  teacher  or 
scholar,  without  a  charge  being  made. 
The  simplest  charging  system,  is  the  use 
of  slips  of  paper,  cut  to  uniform  size — 
about  2x4  inches.  Write  name  of  author  at 
top,  and  below,  title  of  book,  accession 
number,  and  sign  with  name  of  person 
drawing  the  book.  These  slips  should  be 
kept  in  alphabetical  order,  snapped  to- 
gether with  a  rubber  band,  convenient  for 
immediate  reference  when  a  book  is  wanted 
which  is  not  on  the  shelves  When  the 
book  is  returned  the  slip  is  destroyed.  It 
is  well  to  add  date,  and  sometimes  to  note 
length  of  time  the  book  is  to  be  kept  out. 


LIBRARY     ADMINISTRATION  31 

The  periodical  list  should  receive  early 
attention.  It  will  be  limited  by  the  funds 
at  the  disposal  of  the  library,  and  by  the 
judgment  of  the  individual  librarian. 
About  one  quarter  of  the  annual  fund 
should  be  allowed — this  might,  or  might 
not  include  binding.  No  periodical  should 
be  subscribed  for  that  would  not  be  of  per- 
manent worth.  With  $100  a  year  for  the 
library,  $25  should  be  spent  for  period- 
icals— with  ten  on  the  list,  there  would 
be  nearly  twenty  volumes  to  bind,  as  most 
bind  two  volumes  to  the  year.  Binding 
costs  from  50  cents  to  $1.00  per  volume. 
Allowing  $10.00  for  binding  there  would 
be  $15.00  for  the  subscription  list.  The 
following  list  comprises  those  periodicals 
found  most  often,  to  have  successfully 
stood  the  test  of  usefulness:  — 

Youth's  Companion  ^  weekly),  illus.  $1.85 

St.  Nicholas  (monthly),  illus.         .         .  3.00 

Kindergarten  Magazine  (monthly),  illus.  2.00 

Scribner's  Magazine  (monthly),  illus.  3.00 


32  SMAU,   SCHOOI, 

Cosmopolitan  (monthly),  illus.      .  .               $1.00 

Outlook  (weekly),  illus.          .         .  .                  3.00 

Review  of  Reviews  (monthly),  illus.  2.50 

World's  Work  (monthly),  illus.  3.00 

Educational  Review  (monthly),  illus.  3.00 

Public  Libraries  (monthly),            .  .                  1.00 

The  Educational  review  and  Public 
libraries  are  for  the  use  of  the  teachers. 
In  a  library  of  less  than  1,000  volumes  it 
would  be  inexpedient  to  buy  any  books  on 
methods  for  the  use  of  the  teachers,  but 
all  should  have  access  to  the  Review, 
which  is  invaluable  and  should  be  cata- 
logued and  bound  promptly.  Public 
libraries  contains  a  great  deal  of  helpful 
material,  suggestions,  reading  lists,  etc., 
for  school  libraries. 

There  are  many  articles  in  the  period- 
icals that  should  be  catalogued.  A  con- 
venient form  is  Subject,  periodical,  vol., 
page,  date,  E.g.: 

Postoffice:  World's  Work,  v  7:  p.  4075:  Nov.  '03. 
All  periodicals  are  arranged  on  the  shelves 
alphabetically.  A  discount  of  about  15 


LIBRARY   ADMINISTRATION  33 

per  cent  is  given  by  subscription  agencies, 
and  a  careful  record  should  be  kept, of  the 
date  of  ordering,  agency  from  which  or- 
dered, cost,  and  date  of  beginning  and 
ending  of  subscription.  Each  number  is 
to  be  entered  on  a  check  list  as  received, 
and  when  a  volume  is  complete  it  should 
be  bound  at  once. 

The  selecting  and  ordering  of  books  is 
the  most  important  part  of  library  work. 
The  best  helps  are  to  be  found  in  looking 
over  a  well  selected  library,  and  in  the 
personal  recommendation  of  books  that 
have  been  used  successfully  by  teachers 
in  whose  judgment  confidence  may  be 
placed.  Keep  a  memorandum  of  such 
books,  noting  author,  title,  and  person  by 
whom  recommended,  and  specific  use  of 
book.  Then  when  money  is  available, 
and  book  lists  are  to  be  made  out,  there 
will  be  a  reliable  beginning. 

Publishers   catalogues  are  supplied  for 


34  SMAU,  SCHOOI, 

the  asking,  and  those  of  such  houses  as 
Ginn  &  Co.,  D.  C.  Heath,  Houghton  & 
Mifflin,  American  Book  Co.,  Macmillan, 
and  Scribner's  Sons  are  indispensable. 
There  are  certain  classics  that  must  serve 
as  the  basis  and  nucleus  of  every  library, 
and  these  firms  each  supply  some  of  these 
in  the  most  convenient  and  attractive  of 
editions,  and  several  of  them  publish 
special  catalogues  of  books  adapted  to 
school  libraries  and  reading,  for  the  young. 
To  cite  one  example  from  each  of  these 
particular  houses,  Ginn  &  Co.,  publish  the 
Jane  Andrews  series  of  books,  containing 
Ten  boys,  Seven  little  sisters  and  others. 
D.  C.  Heath's  series  of  Home  and  School 
classics,  offer  such  books  as  Mrs.  Swing's 
Jackanapes,  and  Miss  Mulock's  Little 
lame  prince.  Houghton  &  Mifflin  are 
richest  in  American  authors,  and  their 
Cambridge  edition  of  the  poets  is  indis- 
putably the  one  to  be  bought  for  Long- 


LIBRARY  ADMINISTRATION  35 


fellow,  Whittier,  and  other  poets  which  the 
smallest  library  must  have.  The  Eclectic 
series  of  the  American  Book  Co.,  is  the 
most  inclusive  in  its  scope,  with  a  range 
from  children's  fairy  tales,  through  famous 
stories  in  literature,  geography,  history 
and  the  English  classics.  The  Macmil- 
lan's  publish  Hart's  American  history  told 
by  contemporaries,  and  Hart's  Source 
readers  of  American  history.  Scribner's 
Series  of  school  reading,  furnish  several 
things  at  a  reasonable  cost,  that  are  not 
published  elsewhere  in  convenient  form — 
as  Thompson-Seton's  Animal  series,  and 
Wright's  American  literature  stories. 
These  catalogues  should  be  kept  together, 
and  in  alphabetical  order  by  name  of  pub- 
lishing house. 

There  are  so  many  good  lists  to  assist 
one  that  a  selection  is  difficult.  First  and 
most  easily  available  is  the  one  printed  by 
Hon.  Delos  Fall,  Supt.  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, in  the  State  manual  and  course  of 
study — last  edition.  This  is  sent  free 
upon  application  at  the  Superintendent's 
office,  Lansing,  Michigan. 


36  SMAI,!,   SCHOOL   LIBRARIES 

An  ideal  list  is  published  by  the  Buffalo 
Public  Library  called  Class-room  libraries 
for  Public  schools,  and  covering  the  1st  to 
9th  grades.  The  first  part  is  arranged  by 
grades,  the  second  part  is  an  author  and 
title  index  in  one  alphabet,  the  third  is  a 
subject  index  to  the  graded  list.  Opening 
at  random  the  following  occur:  Firemen, 
Flag  day,  Japan,  Pilgrims  and  puritans, 
Ships  and  sailors.  This  catalogue  will 
be  mailed  on  receipt  of  10  cents. 

Further  lists  are  found  in  educational 
papers,  which  with  such  periodicals  as  the 
World's  work,  Outlook,  and  Review  of 
reviews  should  be  read  regularly  for  notices 
of  new  books. 

Finally,  present  a  book  list  of  exactly 
what  is  most  wanted,  and  that  exactly 
meets  the  amount  of  money  to  be  spent. 
Do  not  send  in  a  $30.00  list,  when  there 
are  but  $10.00  to  spend,  first  because  it  is 
unbusiness  like,  second  because  the  Board 
will  unfailingly  cut  out  the  particular 
books  you  consider  most  valuable. 


REFERENCE    BOOKS  37 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Reference  Books 

Two  things  are  absolutely  indispensable 
in  any  library,  large  or  small,  public  or 
private — good  books,  and  intelligence  in 
their  use.  The  smaller  the  library  the 
more  necessary  is  a  discriminating  knowl- 
edge of  its  resources.  Broadly  speaking, 
in  a  very  small  library  all  books  may  be 
considered  reference  books,  for  one  could 
so  master  their  contents  as  to  make  them 
answer  many  questions  which,  in  a  larger 
library,  might  more  quickly  be  found 
elsewhere.  For  example,  certain  text- 
books in  science  and  history  indicate  the 
pronunciation  of  proper  names,  and  might 
be  referred  to  in  case  there  were  no 
dictionary ;  or  a  geographical  reader  might 
give  information  which  could  more  quickly 
and  conveniently  be  found  in  a  general 
cyclopedia. 


38  SMAI,!,  SCHOOL   IvIBRARIES 

In  a  more  restricted  sense  a  reference 
book  is  one  to  be  consulted  for  definite 
points  of  information,  and  is  arranged  for 
ease  in  looking  up  specific  facts.  Its 
arrangement  may  be  either  alphabetical, 
topical,  or  chronological — and  it  is  pro- 
vided with  tables  of  contents,  and  with 
indexes,  which  lead  one  quickly  to  the 
information  desired. 

The  intelligent  use  of  such  books  de- 
pends very  largely  on  two  things:  First, 
to  quickly  sieze  on  the  scope  and  ar- 
rangement of  the  work;  second,  the 
habitual  use  of  the  index.  The  old  joke 
of  reading  through  an  encyclopedia  fre- 
quently materializes,  as  in  the  case  of  a 
student  referred  to  the  Statesman's  Year 
Book  to  find  the  number  of  members  in 
the  House  of  Commons.  The  .student  re- 
turned next  day  to  his  teacher  saying  he 
had  read  three  hours  in  the  book  and  had 
not  found  what  he  wanted.  However,  the 


REFERENCE    BOOKS  39 

same  illustration  points  another  lesson 
besides  the  lack  of  knowledge  in  the  use 
of  an  index,  namely,  that  of  personal 
help,  for  the  teacher  at  once  gave  assist- 
ance that  was  thenceforth  valuable  in  the 
use  of  all  reference  books. 

A  few  moments  of  individual  help  in 
the  use  of  books  and  catalogues  aud  dic- 
tionaries is  of  inestimable  value,  and  the 
oft-repeated  "send  the  student  to  the  cat- 
alogue/' should  rather  read  "take  the 
student  to  the  catalogue "  and  explain 
the  particular  reference  in  hand,  for  in 
nothing  does  a  concrete  example  more 
surely  illustrate  general  principles  than 
in  reference  work. 

The  corner  stone  of  every  library 
should  be  Webster's  International  dic- 
tionary. It  is  the  standard  American 
dictionary,  being  used  far  more  generally 
than  any  other,  and  also  being  the  official 
standard  of  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court,  of 


40  SMAI,!,  SCHOOI,   UBRARIRS 

Congress,  and  of  many  U.  S.  and  indi- 
vidual state  departments.  Besides  its 
general  use  for  the  derivation,  definition, 
and  pronunciation  of  words,  it  is  inval- 
uable for  its  appendix,  containing  a  dic- 
tionary of  noted  fictitious  persons  and 
places;  pronouncing  gazetteer  or  geo- 
graphical dictionary;  dictionary  of  classi- 
cal and  foreign  words  and  quotations,  etc. ; 
pronouncing  biographical  dictionary;  and 
other  supplementary  helps. 

The  best  cyclopedia  for  a  small  school 
library  is  Johnson's  Universal  Cyclopedia, 
in  8  volumes,  ($48.00).  This  edition  was 
thoroughly  revised  under  the  direction  of 
C.  K.  Adams  as  editor-in-chief,  between 
1893-95.  A  subsequent  so-called  edition 
extending  the  work  to  12  volumes,  under 
the  name  of  Universal  Cyclopedia,  is  not 
a  revision,  the  old  plates  being  used,  and 
an  appendix  being  added  to  each  volume, 
giving  some  later  data,  which  were 


REFERENCE   BOOKS  41 

more  conveniently  found  in  a  good  year 
book.  The  older  edition  can  now  be 
bought  for  about  half  its  original  cost, 
from  its  publishers  (D.  Appleton,  New 
York),  or  from  second-hand  dealers  for 
still  less. 

There  are  several  year  books  which  are 
indispensable.  First,  because  most  easily 
available,  the  World  Almanac,  the  annual 
publication  of  the  New  York  World. 
This  contains  all  kinds  of  information 
both  forthell.  S.  and  foreign  countries, 
as  election  returns,  statistics,  political 
information,  etc.  (Indexed,  40c.  cloth.) 

The  Statesman's  Year  Book  (published 
by  Macmillan,  $3.00),  contains  both 
statistical  and  descriptive  information  re- 
garding all  of  the  countries  of  the  world, 
and  has  so  much  of  permanent  value  that 
in  very  small  libraries  it  would  not  be 
essential  that  it  be  bought  each  year,  as 
forms  of  government,  trade  and  industries, 


42  SMALI*  SCHOOL  LIBRARIES 

commerce,  etc.,  do  not  materially  change 
from  year  to  year. 

The  International  Year  Book  (published 
by  Dodd,  $4.00),  is  a  compendium  of  the 
world's  progress  and  history,  with  bio- 
graphical studies,  particularly  oi  great 
men  who  have  died  during  the  year.  This 
should  be  bought  each  year.- 

Three  smaller  books  of  first  importance 
are  Champlin's  Young  folks'  cyclopedia 
of  persons  and  places;  Young  folks' 
cyclopedia  of  common  things ;  Young  folks' 
cyclopedia  of  literature  and  art,  (Holt, 
$2.50  each).  Their  names  define  their 
scope,  and  next  to  Webster's  dictionary 
they  would  be  the  most  useful  and  avail- 
able reference  books  for  young  students. 

Brewer's,  The  Reader's  handbook  of 
allusions,  references,  plots,  and  stories, 
supplies  a  mass  of  information  in  brief, 
lucid  accounts  of  names  and  allusions 
which  the  reader  is  constantly  meeting. 
(L,ippincot,  $3.50.) 


REFERENCE  BOOKS  43 

Walsh's  Curiosities  of  popular  customs, 
rites,  ceremonies,  observations,  and  mis- 
cellaneous antiquities,  is  particularly  help- 
ful for  special  days,  as  Hallowe'en,  St. 
Valentine,  Christmas  and  others. 

A  good  book  of  quotations  and  a  collec- 
tion of  poetry  concludes  the  list  of  most 
indispensable  books  of  reference.  Bart- 
lett's  Familiar  quotations  and  Bryant's 
Library  of  poetry  and  song,  are  still  among 
the  best  books  of  their  kind. 

A  strong  word  of  caution  is  urged 
against  the  purchase  of  the  numerous 
"collections"  and  "libraries"  of  history, 
of  literature,  of  science,  of  universal 
information,  and  what  not,  which  are 
flooding  the  country  through  subscription 
agents.  Never  buy  a  subscription  book 
on  the  sole  recommendation  of  its  agent. 
It  will  surely  be  matter  for  serious  regret, 
and  the  money  which  has  gone  into  a 
large  and  probably  cheap  set  of  books, 


44  SMAI,!,  SCHOOI,   LIBRARIES 

cheap  in  every  way,  could  be  expended 
for  good  books  that  are  of  known  value 
and  utility. 

The  selection  of  books  for  reference 
and  collateral  work  in  history,  civics, 
literature,  and  science,  should  be  made 
with  due  care  to  proportion  and  to  adapta- 
bility to  the  work  of  the  school.  In  his- 
tory, shorter  works  have  taken  the  place  of 
the  old  many-volume  histories.  In  sec- 
ondary schools  Fiske  is  certainly  better 
than  Bancroft,  and  by  the  side  of  Fiske's 
American  Revolution,  put  Mitchell's 
Hugh  Wynn:  Free  quaker,  both  for  the 
enjoyment  of  good  literature,  and  for  the 
character  studies  of  Washington,  Hamil- 
ton, and  Benedict  Arnold.  In  literature 
let  the  editions  be  standard,  of  the  few 
poets,  and  one  or  two  volumes  of  the  best 
essayists,  as  Emerson,  Carlyle,  Arnold, 
and  Lamb.  In  biography  choose  from 
such  series  as  the  American  statesmen,  and 
the  English  men  of  letters. 


PUBLIC   DOCUMENTS  45 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Public  Documents 

TEACHING  has  changed  its  methods 
and  the  old  books  of  reference  no 
longer  suffice.  In  the  so-called  laboratory 
work,  required  in  all  studies,  primary 
material  has  become  a  matter  of  necessity. 
History,  civics  and  geography  for  exam- 
ple, all  demand  original  documents  and 
data  on  historical,  judicial,  industrial, 
commercial  and  municipal  subjects.  Much 
of  this  material  is  to  be  found  in  public 
documents  which  are  indispensable  in  the 
smallest  library.  They  are  too  often  quite 
neglected,  possibly  because  they  are  so 
easily  obtained,  for  they  may  literally  be 
had  for  the  asking. 

These  documents  are  divided  into  three 
classes:  those  of  the  federal  government, 
published  by  the  government  at  Washing- 
ton; those  of  the  state  governments, 


46  SMAI^I,   SCHOOI,  LIBRARIES 

published  by  the  several  commonwealths ; 
those  of  the  municipal  goverment,  pub- 
lished by  the  individual  city  or  village. 

The  three  questions  which  a  librarian 
must  consider  regarding  public  documents 
are, — what  do  we  need,  how  can  we  get 
them,  and  how  shall  they  be  classified  and 
catalogued. 

Among  the  government  documents  of 
first  importance  are  the  annual  reports  of 
the  U.S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  the 
Year  book  of  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, the  Compilation  of  Treaties  in  force 
in  1899,  annual  reports  of  the  Civil  service 
commission,  and  the  U.  S.  Consular  re- 
ports. 

The  reports  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Education  are  of  the  greatest  value  to  the 
teacher,  being  a  record  of  educational 
progress  and  containing  papers  on  special 
subjects,  as  well  as  full  statistical  tables. 
Glancing  at  the  table  of  contents  in  the 


PUBLIC   DOCUMENTS  47 

last  report,  one  notes  the  following: 
School  supervision ;  Free  text-books,  bene- 
fits, objections,  cost;  Agriculture  in  Rural 
schools;  Rural  school  libraries;  Child 
study  in  Chicago.  This  file  should  be 
begun  at  once  and  kept  up-to-date,  as  it 
is  an  authoritative  work  in  educational 
history  and  is  of  permanent  value. 

The  Agricultural  year  books  are  well 
illustrated  and  not  confined  to  technical 
matters  of  interest  to  the  farmer  only,  but 
treat  many  subjects  of  general  interest, 
as  the  beet  sugar  industry,  irrigation, 
uses  of  wood,  olive  culture  in  the  IL  S. 
etc.  Of  such  reports  as  the  Civil  service, 
and  the  Consular,  occasional  volumes 
would  be  sufficient,  and  those  of  particu- 
lar importance  are  frequently  noted  in  the 
bibliographies  and  reference  lists  in  the 
text-books  on  history,  civics  and  geog- 
raphy. 

There    are    two    ways    to    obtain  these 


48  SMAI.lv  SCHOOL   LIBRARIES 

documents.  First,  through  the  Supt.  of 
Documents,  Washington,  D.  C.  Write 
for  what  you  want  and  state  that  it  is  for 
a  school  library.  If  he  cannot  supply,  he 
will  tell  you  how  to  procure  it.  Second, 
through  the  congressman  of  your  district 
who  is  entitled  to  copies  of  all  documents 
for  distribution. 

In  cataloguing  these  documents  the 
author  entry  is  under  the  name  of  the  U. 
S.  department  or  bureau  by  which  the 
document  is  issued,  for  E.  g.,  U.  S. — 
Education,  Bureau  of.  Reports  of  Com- 
missioner of  Education,  1902.  One  au- 
thor card,  of  course,  is  sufficient  for  the 
set,  the  new  books  being  entered  on  the 
old  card.  The  subject  card  would  be  U. 
S. — Education,  as  this  would  bring  the 
card  in  the  subject  catalogue  next  others 
on  education  in  the  U.  S.  In  some  li- 
braries all  books  on  education  are  entered 
under  Education.  It  is  a  matter  for  the 


PUBLIC   DOCUMENTS  49 


individual  librarian  to  decide,  but  having 
decided,  care  is  always  necessary  that 
uniformity  be  maintained.  The  other 
author  cards  would  be  U.  S. — Agricul- 
ture, Dept.  of;  U.  S. — Civil  Service  com- 
mission, etc.  In  classifying,  place  the 
books  with  others  on  the  same  subject. 
The  Treaties  in  973  with  U.  S.  History, 
the  Commissioner  of  Education  in  370, 
the  Agricultural  Year  book  in  630. 

State  documents  follow  very  much  in 
the  order  of  U.  S.  documents,  and  the 
first  on  this  list  should  be  the  Annual 
report  of  the  Supt.  of  Public  instruction, 
it  being  an  indispensable  reference  book 
for  the  school  board,  the  school  principal, 
and  the  school  teacher,  containing  not 
only  the  report  and  recommendations  of 
the  Superintendent  and  summary  of  school 
legislation  and  statistics,  but  also  articles 
on  practical  school  problems. 

Next  on  the  list  of  state   documents   is 


50  SMAI,!,   SCHOOL   LIBRARIES 

the  book  familiarly  known  as  the  Michi- 
gan manual,  or  the  red  book.  This  is  the 
official  hand-book  of  the  legislature.  It  is 
the  book  from  which  the  text-books  of  civil 
government  of  Michigan  are  almost  liter- 
ally and  bodily  taken. 

The  annual  reports  of  the  Bureau  of 
labor  contain  chapters  on  important 
manufacturing  industries,  as  the  pepper- 
mint industry,  the  silk  industry,  manu- 
facture of  Portland  cement,  etc.,  etc.  It 
will  be  a  surprise  to  many  to  learn  here 
that  the  largest  producer  of  pepper- 
mint oil  in  the  world  is  the  A.  M.  Todd 
Co.,  of  Kalamazoo,  and  the  largest  pep- 
permint farm  in  the  world  is  owned  by 
this  company,  and  90  per  cent  of  all  the 
peppermint  oil  in  the  world  is  distilled 
within  a  radius  of  75  miles  of  Kalamazoo. 

Other  reports  of  which  occasional  vol- 
umes would  be  of  value,  are  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Railroads,  the  Geological 


PUBLIC    DOCUMENTS  51 

survey,  the  Pioneer  and  historical  collec- 
tions. 

When  the  legislature  is  in  session  the 
Legislative  journal  should  be  added  to 
the  list,  and  request  made  for  it  to  the 
representative  from  the  district.  For  all 
documents  it  is  best  to  address  the  state 
librarian,  Mary  C.  Spencer,  she  being  also 
secretary  of  the  State  library  commission, 
through  which  office  she  is  entitled  to 
certain  privileges  in  the  distribution  of 
documents. 

Municipal  publications  are  so  limited  in 
number  in  small  towns  that  a  few  words 
will  suffice  to  enumerate  them.  A  city  or  an 
incorporated  village  has  its  charter, which 
is  readily  obtained.  The  records  of  the 
council  are  published  in  one  of  the  local 
papers.  This  practically  exhausts  the 
list,  but  there  are  other  unofficial  records 
of  local  character  that  should  be  gathered 
and  kept.  Historical  notices  regarding 


52  SMALI,  SCHOOL  LIBRARIES 

the  town,  biographical  sketches  of  prom- 
inent townsmen,  dedicatory  exercises  in 
connection  with  public  buildings,  pro- 
grams of  entertainments,  school  com- 
mencements, and  exercises.  All  of  these 
are  the  material  from  which  history  is 
written.  To  keep  them  is  an  easy  mat- 
ter, if  nothing  more  is  done  than  to  put 
them  in  a  box,  with  no  present  attempt  at 
classification.  One  thing  is  of  absolute 
importance  in  newspaper  clippings,  write 
the  date  and  name  of  the  paper  on  the 
margin.  Two  boxes,  one  labelled  SCHOOL, 
the  other  labelled  with  the  name  of  the 
town,  would  be  all  the  apparatus  neces- 
sary to  begin  a  local  historical  collection, 
which  would  soon  become  invaluable,  in 
the  small  school  library. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED; 

-:L  LIBHABX 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


JAN 


JUL  241969 


LD  21-50m-8 '57 


General  Library 
University  of  California 


